Our laboratory studies the control of the synthesis of macromolecules in normal and bacteriophage-infected Bacillus subtilis. Three main projects are under way, and their objectives are: 1. To study the specificity of RNA polymerase in phi 29-infected bacteria and the transcriptional consequences of its modification. 2. To determine the function of bacteriophage phi 29 non-capsid proteins synthesized during virus development. 3. To study the mechanism of viral DNA replication, with special emphasis on the mode of action of 2 viral proteins required in the process: Protein 3a which associates phi 29 chromosomes with the host cell membrane and protein 8a which is required for DNA replication but whose precise function is unknown.